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Top 11 Foods to Try in Wisconsin

Why 11? Because I made a list of 10 and then realized I forgot one, that’s why. I was recently in Wisconsin again for a wedding and took advantage of a lot of the great foods that are available there. I know the most common foods people think of when they think of Wisconsin would probably be beer and cheese, but Wisconsin’s warm summers and rich floodplains make for some really delicious produce as well. Honestly, after being converted to Belgian beers, I can’t even put Wisconsin’s on the list. They taste too watery to me now. But here’s the foods I really love:

11. Popcorn There are stores in Wisconsin that sell every kind of popcorn under the sun. Cheesy popcorn, caramel corn and buttered are common, but you’ll also find really original varieties like white chocolate cashew, toffee, root beer, anything under the sun. I usually prefer the variations on caramel or toffee.

10. Amish Candy I guess Amish people don’t get a lot of fun things in life like booze, mini golf and water slides, so they try to make up for it by making really awesome candy. One of the best kinds of candy is the chocolate covered cashew brittle, made with just cashews, cane sugar, butter and chocolate. You won’t find any artificial colors, flavors or HFCS in this stuff. The Amish store I usually buy from is this tiny little place at W3884 Grand River Rd. in Markesan.

9. Brats I may not appreciate Wisconsin beer all that much, but I do know that the beer brats in this state are great. I don’t have a grill so I can’t make them the way you’re supposed to. They’re best simmered in beer and chopped onion until fully cooked, then throw them on the grill for just a few minutes for that grilled taste. Then back in the beer if you’re making a bunch, so they stay warm. Brats have always been a great picnic food because you can have so many ready at once for your guests this way.

8. Cranberries I love cranberries with my brie, and the best cranberries come from Wisconsin. Cranberries are Wisconsin’s number one fruit crop, and you’ll find a lot of cranberry festivals up North in the fall.

7. Kringle The Kringle is a large ring pastry that’s often served around Thanksgiving and Christmas in Wisconsin. They come in a bunch of different varieties, but the cheesecake Kringle is my favorite. Kringles are sold a lot for school fundraisers so it’s not too hard to find them. You can even order them online at http://www.kringle.com/

6. Rippin’ Good Cookies We stopped at the Rippin’ Good Cookie Outlet Store last week and it was just as awesome as always. You know how awesome it would be to be one of the kids who visited the chocolate factory in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, eating everything you see? That’s exactly what it’s like at the Rippin’ Good Cookie outlet store, you just eat everything in sight. They have packages open of nearly every single kind of cookie they make. My favorites are the fudge marshmallow cookies, the shortbread cookies and the sugar wafers. I’ve found the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies to be a bit dry for my taste, but I eat them if they’re free anyway!

5. Apples I was there a bit early for apple season this year, but there were still enough freshly ripe ones that Tom Dooley’s was open. Tom Dooley Orchard is just east of Waupun on Highway 49. They sell huge bags of apples, pies (fresh, ready-to-bake or frozen, apple squares, mince squares, different varieties of caramel apples, apple pastries, apple muffins and all other things apple. I got a ready-to-bake dutch apple pie and a mince square, and they tasted great with some caramel syrup and whipped cream.

4. Cheese curds I’m not a huge fan of most American hard cheeses. I don’t really care for cheddar, Swiss, muenster or Colby. But I still love cheese curds that are so fresh they squeak. If they don’t squeak, they aren’t fresh. The best is the deep fried cheese curds, dipped in marinara sauce.

3. Strawberries When I was a little girl, strawberry season was as much a time of year as Christmas time or spring break. Every week in the late Spring I’d ask my parents if the strawberries were ripe yet. When the time was right, we’d drive out to Kirschbaum’s Strawberry Acres on 151 between Columbus and Beaver Dam, and pick crates full of strawberries. I remember so clearly standing in the fields with the ripe berries all around, and being able to smell the fresh berries in the hot summer sun. I’ve had berries from California, Mexico, and these days from the local Apex strawberry farm, but they just don’t seem to compare with how perfect those Wisconsin strawberries were.

2. Ice Cream Maybe I’m biased because I used to work at the ice cream shop in the Memorial Union at UW-Madison, but Babcock ice cream is the best in the world. My favorite flavor is orange custard chocolate chip, but just about any of the flavors are just as good. The blue moon is a fantastic old Midwest flavor as well. There are other ice cream stores in the state like Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream that’s pretty good, but if you want the best, go for Babcock.

1. Corn on The Cob I was lucky to be visiting at the end of August when corn on the cob was still fresh off the stalk. Commonly when I make it at home I just throw it in a pot of boiling water for 6 minutes, but in Wisconsin it’s made the best possible way- on the grill. The corn, still in its husk, is soaked in a bucket of water for a few hours. Then it’s put on the grill until the outside is blackened. It’s a challenge to peel off the husk when it’s done without burning your hands, but the end result is so worth it. I dip it in butter and eat up.

I know I’m probably going to get some complaints that I didn’t include Wisconsin beer, venison, Colby cheese and Door County cherries, but they’re just not my bag. I can’t tell people to try things that I don’t personally like. But maybe there’s something here I totally forgot, so feel free to add more in the comments!

Can you believe I’ve never been to a Friday Night Fish Fry? I spent the first 23 years of my life living in Wisconsin and I guess that just wasn’t something my family did. Now I feel like I missed out. 😦

I live in Wisconsin but I am originally from Europe, around the Mediterranean sea, where we have lot of fish and fish fry dishes. You have really good things here, but none of them is fish fry. My favorite thing from Wisconsin is frozen custard =) thousand times better than the best gelatto of Italy.